Editing Heraldry

[[File:Heraldry sketch by tribemun.jpg|thumb|300px|Heraldry of the [[Great Houses]], by tribemun ©]]
[[File:ArmyofScorpionsIIITomasz Jedruszek.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The scorpions of [[House Qorgyle]], by Tomasz Jedruszek © Fantasy Flight Games]]
[[File:Calling the BannersDiego Gisbert LlorensII.png|300px|thumb|right|Calling the Banners, by Diego Gisbert Llorens © Fantasy Flight Games]]
[[File:RMTrue Queens Bannerman.png|300px|thumb|right|A [[Dothraki]] flying [[Daenerys Targaryen]]'s banner, by Régis Moulun © Fantasy Flight Games]]
'''Heraldry''' is the art and science of [[w:blazon|blazoning]] coats of arms. Heraldry is used by the royalty and nobility as a sign of status, and as such is an important part of the [[Feudalism|feudal]] society of the [[Seven Kingdoms]] of [[Westeros]].

==Heraldry in Westeros and in the real world==
Most noble houses of the [[Seven Kingdoms]] have their own designs, and variants of these designs are adopted only by members of the house. The arms of a house belong to that family, as in [[w:Law of heraldic arms#Germany|Germany and Italy]], and may be used by all trueborn descendants of that house.{{ref|THK}}{{ref|AGOT|7}} [[Bastards]] may sometimes use the arms of their father's house with an added distinction.

Coats of arms are commonly used by [[knight]]s in [[Tourneys in Westeros|tourneys]] and on the battlefields as a way to identify allied from enemy soldiers in the heat of battle. Heraldry is thus often displayed on shields,{{ref|AGOT|57}} surcoats,{{ref|AGOT|7}} and banners,{{ref|ASOS|73}} and the vassals of a [[lord]] are known as [[bannermen]].{{ref|AGOT|28}} Conversely, [[mystery knight]]s that want anonymity use blank or unknown coats of arms.{{ref|ASOS|24}}

The heraldry of important individuals can be collected in a roll of arms.{{ref|TMK}}{{ref|AFFC|23}} Most of the Seven Kingdoms use [[escutcheon]]-shaped coats of arms, but [[Dorne|Dornish]] houses favor circular coats of arms that are not widely seen anywhere else.{{ref|ASOS|38}} [[Come-into-my-castle]] is a game which teaches courtesy and heraldry to highborn children.{{ref|ADWD|40}} Heraldry was not practiced by the [[dragonlord]]s of the [[Valyrian Freehold]].{{ref|FAB|Aegon's Conquest}}

Heraldry in the Seven Kingdoms serves largely the same purpose as in [[w:Middle Ages|medieval Europe]], but the Westerosi heraldry of author [[George R. R. Martin]] is significantly less formalized. In this regard, Westeros resembles [[w:Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] or [[w:Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Age]] societies, before the rules of heraldry were properly developed and widely accepted.<ref name="ssm-heraldry">[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Heraldry_in_Westeros Heraldry in Westeros], April 13, 1999</ref>  While real-world heraldry makes extensive use of words and jargon specific to blazonry, Westerosi arms are mostly described in standard English.

<gallery>
File:House Targaryen.svg|Escutcheon-shaped coat of arms ([[House Targaryen]])
File:House Martell.svg|Dornish circular coat of arms ([[House Martell]])
</gallery>

===Tinctures===
Traditional real-world heraldry limits the number of tinctures to two metals (''argent'' for white and ''or'' for gold), five colours (''gules'' for red, ''[[sable]]'' for black, ''azure'' for blue, ''vert'' for green, and ''purpure'' for purple), and two furs (''[[ermine]]'' and ''[[vair]]''), and limits how these tinctures can be placed together. Westeros instead uses a much larger palette, makes no distinction between metals and colours, and describes tinctures using simple English words instead of heraldic vocabulary. Real-world heraldry follows the [[w:Rule of Tincture|rule of tincture]], which dictates that "metals" may not be placed over other metals, and "colours" may not be placed over other colours. While this rule is sometimes broken in real-world heraldry, it is altogether absent in Westeros and many houses have arms that would violate the rule of tincture:

<gallery>
File:House Waynwood.svg|Black on green ([[House Waynwood]])
File:House Kettleblack.svg|Black on red ([[House Kettleblack]])
File:House Chyttering.svg|Gold on white ([[House Chyttering]])
</gallery>

Furs are also used in [[Westeros]] heraldry:

<gallery>
File:House Rosby.svg|Ermine ([[House Rosby]])
File:House Harte.svg|Vair ([[House Harte]])
</gallery>

In traditional heraldry no distinction is made between white, silver and light grey, which are all named "argent".  Likewise, both gold and yellow are called "or". In Westeros, white, grey, and silver are treated as distinct tinctures and can be used together on a coat of arms: 

<gallery>
File:House Stark.svg|A [[direwolf]] grey on white ([[House Stark]])
File:House Slate.svg|Pale grey, a double tressure white ([[House Slate]])
File:House Pyle.svg|A grey iron greathelm on white ([[House Pyle]])
File:House Footly.svg|A field of silver caltrops on black ([[House Footly]])
</gallery>

Many of the available blazons of Westerosi coats of arms are notable in their lack of detail; for instance the blazon for the coat of arms of [[House Blanetree]] (''maple leaves, green and brown, strewn on a field of yellow'') fails to tell us how many maple leafs the shield should have, and gives only the vaguest indication of how they should be placed. In some cases the blazons manifest in quite poor designs rendering them of little use for recognition on the battlefield, for example:

<gallery>
File:House_Blanetree.svg|[[House Blanetree]]
File:House Hayford.svg| fields "bleed" into each other ([[House Hayford]])
File:House Lynderly.svg| complex and low-contrast ([[House Lynderly]])
</gallery>

For practical reasons, traditional heraldry uses a very limited set of [[w:Tincture (heraldry)|tinctures]]; it was not always practical or possible to reproduce subtler color variations in the numbers and time constraints found.  Besides, coats of arms are meant to be recognizable from far away and are often employed in shields and other pieces of equipment that are subject to abuse, neglect and disrepair.  Even today, many pigments show some degree of color degradation, often severe, when consistently exposed to sun rays, rain and other influences. This limited palette is not the case in the Seven Kingdoms, where heraldic descriptions include ambiguous or subtle colors such as:

<gallery>
File:Dunk.svg|'sunset' (eg. [[Duncan the Tall]])
File:House Sparr.svg| 'oak' ([[House Sparr]])
File:House Volmark.svg|very variable tones such as 'grey' ([[House Volmark]])
File:House Reed.svg|'grey-green' ([[House Reed]])
</gallery>

The use of physical material descriptions like 'oak', 'masonry' or 'sand' in Martin's heraldic descriptions also complicates matters because it is uncertain whether these refer to a specific shade or to an attempt to actually represent these materials pictorially, such as painting the grain of the oak or the bricks of the masonry. Such detail would seem difficult to render on fabric surfaces such as flags, surcoats or the livery of men-at-arms or servants. This however reflect the real world use of the tincture "proper".

===Devices and charges===
Charges are objects or figures placed on a shield. Many of the devices and charges used in the heraldry of Westeros derive directly from traditional sources and include creatures such as lions, stags and birds, and symbols such as stars, weapons and ships. There are some notable differences in Martin's designs though:

The use of seven-pointed stars to represent the [[Faith of the Seven]]. Seven-pointed stars are rare in traditional heraldry and vexillology, with a notable exception being the flag of Australia. Examples include:

<gallery>
File:House Sunglass.svg|[[House Sunglass]]
File:House Tarbeck.svg|[[House Tarbeck]]
File:House Templeton.svg|[[House Templeton]]
</gallery>

The use of very detailed pictures, particularly humanoid figures, such as:

<gallery>
File:House Bolton.svg|The flayed man of [[House Bolton]]
File:House Sunderly.svg|The drowned man of [[House Sunderly]] 
File:House Piper.svg|The silk-swirled dancing maiden of [[House Piper]]
File:House Falwell.svg|The fool of [[House Falwell]]
</gallery>

In reality, these figures would be difficult to render on shields and flags with any accuracy or consistency.

The use of detailed creatures and figures on the shield that would normally only appear as supporters in traditional coats of arms, such as:

<gallery>
File:House Manderly.svg|The merman of [[House Manderly]]
File:House Umber.svg|The giant in chains of [[House Umber]]
</gallery>

The use of fauna and flora specific to Westeros, such as:

<gallery>
File:House Reed.svg|The lizard-lion of [[House Reed]] 
File:House Blackwood.svg|The weirwood tree of [[House Blackwood]]
</gallery>

==== Ordinaries ====
Some charges with simple geometric shapes are so common that they are often classified separately as ''ordinaries''. These include:

{| class="wikitable"
! Ordinary !! Description !! Example
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Fess.svg|100px]]<br>Fess
| a horizontal band
| {{coa|Blackbar|l}}<br>[[House Blackbar]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Pale.svg|100px]]<br>Pale
| a vertical band, meaning an upright stake, whence "palisade"
| {{coa|Hayford|l}}<br>[[House Hayford]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Bend.svg|100px]]<br>Bend
| diagonal band, from dexter chief to sinister base. "Sinister" and "dexter" mean left and right respectively, but they are from the point of view of someone holding the shield, so they are reversed from an observer's viewpoint.
| {{coa|Hasty|l}}<br>[[House Hasty]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Bend sinister.svg|100px]]<br>Bend sinister
| The bend sinister goes the other way, from sinister chief to dexter base.
| {{coa|Inchfield|l}}<br>[[House Inchfield]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Chief.svg|100px]]<br>Chief
| a broad band across the top of the shield; "chief" also describes a location near or towards the top of the shield.
| {{coa|Bridges|l}}<br>[[House Bridges]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Cross.svg|100px]]<br>Cross
| meaning always an upright cross; a very common ordinary in European heraldry (with an obvious religious meaning), but seems to be less common in the Seven Kingdoms.
| {{coa|Gower|l}}<br>[[House Gower]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Saltire.svg|100px]]<br>Saltire
| a diagonal cross
| {{coa|Turnberry|l}}<br>[[House Turnberry]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Pile.svg|100px]]<br>Pile
| roughly equilateral triangle with the top edge of the shield as its base
| {{coa|Burley|l}}<br>[[House Burley]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Pall.svg|100px]]<br>Pall
| a Y shape
| {{coa|Coldwater|l}}<br>[[House Coldwater]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Pall reversed.svg|100px]]<br>Pall reversed
| an upside-down Y shape
| {{coa|Flint of Flint's Finger|l}}<br>[[House Flint of Flint's Finger]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Bordure.svg|100px]]<br>Bordure
| a border parallel with the edge of the shield; called simply '''border''' in the books
| {{coa|Merryweather|l}}<br>[[House Merryweather]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Orle.svg|100px]]<br>Orle
| a shield-shaped ring - similar to a bordure but does not reach the edge of the shield, leaving a small gap of the main field tincture.
| {{coa|Kettleblack|l}}<br>[[House Kettleblack]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Tressure.svg|100px]]<br>Tressure
| a thinner orle
| {{coa|Mooton|l}}<br>[[House Mooton]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Double tressure.svg|100px]]<br>Double tressure
| two tressures, one inside the other.
| {{coa|Greenfield|l}}<br>[[House Greenfield]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Chevron.svg|100px]]<br>Chevron
| a horizontal band with a kink in the middle, so that it slopes upwards towards both edges of the shield. <br> It is a mirrored version of real-world chevrons, which slope downwards.<ref>asoiaf.westeros.org: [https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/34958-the-asoiaf-wiki-thread/page/62/#comment-7483493 The ASOIAF wiki thread &ndash; Comment by Ran (February 29, 2016)]</ref>
| {{coa|Ashford|l}}<br>[[House Ashford]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Canton.svg|100px]]<br>Canton
| a square in dexter chief
| {{coa|Bolling|l}}<br>[[House Bolling]]
|}

==== Examples ====
{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
|[[File:House Mollen.svg|75px|A pine tree covered with snow in a pale green pile, on white]]
| The arms of the [[House Mollen]] has a pile: ''A snow covered pine tree on a pile light green on a white''.
|-
|[[File:House Jast.svg|75px|Inverted pall between three lion's heads, yellow on black]]
| Some pieces like the pall may be oriented in different ways, thus, the image of the [[House Jast]] has ''an inverted pall between three lion's heads, yellow on black''.
|-
|[[File:House Goodbrook.svg|75px|A blue wavy bend on gold]]
| All the ordinaries can also undergo various changes in size or edge, for example the bend that loads the arms of [[House Goodbrook]] is "wavy": ''A blue wavy bend on gold''.
|-
|[[File:House Bolling.svg|75px|Vairy orange and blue; upon a black canton, a golden stag beneath an orange bend sinister]]
| Finally, an ordinary can load another ordinary, so the arms of [[House Bolling]] feature a canton charged with a bend: ''Vairy orange and blue; upon a black canton, a golden stag beneath an orange bend sinister''.
|}

===Variations of the field===
The field of a shield, is sometimes made up of a pattern of colors, or ''variation''. A pattern of horizontal (barwise) stripes, for example, is called ''barry'', while a pattern of vertical (palewise) stripes is called ''paly''. A pattern of diagonal stripes may be called ''bendy'' or ''bendy sinister'', depending on the direction of the stripes. Other variations include ''chevrony'', ''gyronny'' and ''chequy''. For further variations, these are sometimes combined to produce patterns of ''barry-bendy'', ''paly-bendy'', ''lozengy'' and ''fusilly''. Semés, or patterns of repeated charges, are also considered variations of the field.<ref>Arthur Charles Fox-Davies. ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' isbn 1417906308 (Kessinger Publishing,year 2004) page 101</ref><ref>[[w:Heraldry#Variations of the field|Heraldry Variations of the field]]</ref>

<gallery>
File:Heraldry - Barry.svg|Barry
File:Heraldry - Paly.svg|Paly
File:Heraldry - Bendy.svg|Bendy
File:Heraldry - Bendy sinister.svg|Bendy sinister
File:Heraldry - Chevronny.svg|Chevronny
File:Heraldry - Gironny.svg|Gironny
File:Heraldry - Chequy.svg|Chequy
File:Heraldry - Barry-bendy.svg|Barry-bendy
File:Heraldry - Paly-bendy.svg|Paly-bendy
File:Heraldry - Lozengy.svg|Lozengy
File:Heraldry - Fusilly.svg|Fusilly
</gallery>

===Divisions of the field===

The field of a shield in heraldry can be divided into more than one tincture, as can the various heraldic charges. Many coats of arms consist simply of a division of the field into two contrasting tinctures. These divisions are considered to lie next to each other rather than on top of each other and thus the rule of tincture can be ignored. For example, a shield divided azure and gules would be perfectly acceptable. A line of partition may be straight or it may be varied. The variations of partition lines can be wavy, indented, embattled, engrailed, nebuly, or made into myriad other forms.<ref>Stephen Friar and John Ferguson. ''Basic Heraldry''. (W.W. Norton & Company, New York: 1993), 148.</ref><ref>[[w:Heraldry#Divisions of the field|Heraldry Divisions of the field]]</ref>

<gallery>
File:Heraldry - Party per fess.svg|Party per fess
File:Heraldry - Party per pale.svg|Party per pale
File:Heraldry - Party per bend.svg|Party per bend
File:Heraldry - Party per bend sinister.svg|Party per bend sinister
File:Heraldry - Party per cross.svg|Party per cross
File:Heraldry - Party per saltire.svg|Party per saltire
File:Heraldry - Party per chevron inverted.svg|Party per chevron inverted
File:Heraldry - Party per pall.svg|Party per pall
</gallery>

In general, if the field is divided and every segment has to be blazoned (e.g. each has a different charge on it), they are blazoned in the following order: dexter to sinister, then chief to base. However, in the case of "party per cross" or "quarterly",  [[George R. R. Martin]] lists the four segments clockwise rather than the real-world 1-2/3-4 order.{{Ref|TMK}}<ref>''[[The Hedge Knight (comics)|The Mystery Knight: The Graphic Novel]]''</ref><ref>''[[The Winds of Winter]]'', [[Alayne I (The Winds of Winter)|Alayne I]]</ref>
{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
| {{coa|Stark|l}}
| Thus, the arms of [[House Stark]] is a shield plain, a term that generally can not be transcribed: ''A direwolf gray on pristine white snowfield''.
|-
| {{coa|Tarth|l}}
| The arms of [[House Tarth]] is a shield "party per cross", usually blazoned "quarterly": ''Quarterly, first and third a yellow sun on a rose field in the second and fourth a white crescent on a blue field'', according to [[Westerosi]] clockwise order; ''Quarterly, first and fourth a yellow sun on a rose field in the second and third a white crescent on a blue field'', according to real-world tradition.
|-
| {{coa|Swann|l}}
| The arms of [[House Swann]] is "party per pale": ''Two swans fighters, black and white from one to the other, beaked and hung with gold and white field advantage black''.
|}

===Marshalling===

To ''marshal'' two or more coats of arms is to combine them in one shield, to express inheritance, claims to property, or the occupation of an office.  This can be done in a number of ways, of which the simplest is impalement: dividing the field ''per pale'' and putting one whole coat in each half.  Impalement replaced the earlier dimidiation – combining the dexter half of one coat with the sinister half of another – because dimidiation can create ambiguity between, for example, a bend and chevron. "Dexter" (from Latin ''dextra'', right) means to the right from the viewpoint of the bearer of the arms and "sinister" (from Latin ''sinistra'', left) means to the left. The dexter side is considered the side of greatest honour.

{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
| {{coa|Baratheon|l}}
| {{coa|Lannister|l}}
| {{coa|Baratheon of King's Landing|l}}
|The arms of [[Joffrey Baratheon]] are per pale the arms of his paternal and maternal families{{ref|AGOT|7}}.
|}

A more versatile method is quartering, division of the field by both vertical and horizontal lines.  This practice originated in Spain after the 13th century.<ref>Thomas Woodcock & John Martin Robinson. ''The Oxford Guide to Heraldry''. (Oxford University Press, New York: 1988), 14.</ref>  As the name implies, the usual number of divisions is four, but the principle has been extended to very large numbers of "quarters"; the largest number recorded being the arms of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, featuring a total of 719 "quarters".

Quarters are numbered from the dexter chief (the corner nearest to the right shoulder of a man standing behind the shield), proceeding across the top row, and then across the next row and so on.  When three coats are quartered, the first is repeated as the fourth; when only two coats are quartered, the second is also repeated as the third.  The quarters of a personal coat of arms correspond to the ancestors from whom the bearer has inherited arms, normally in the same sequence as if the pedigree were laid out with the father's father's ... father (to as many generations as necessary) on the extreme left and the mother's mother's ... mother on the extreme right.  A few lineages have accumulated hundreds of quarters, though such a number is usually displayed only in documentary contexts.<ref>Edmundas Rimša. ''Heraldry Past to Present''. (Versus Aureus, Vilnius: 2005), 38.</ref>  

{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
| {{coa|Frey|l}}
| {{coa|Lannister|l}}
| {{coa|Cleos Frey|l}}
|The personal arms of Cleos Frey are quartered Frey and Lannister.
|}

{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
| {{coa|Big Walder Frey|l}}
|The personal coat of arms of [[Walder Frey (son of Jammos)|Big Walder Frey]] is made with the arms of [[House Paege]] (by his mother) and [[House Blackwood]] (by his grandmother). This helps distinguish it from the many other [[Walder Frey (disambiguation)|Walder Frey]]s.{{ref|ACOK|17}}
|}

The third common mode of marshalling is with an inescutcheon, a small shield placed in front of the main shield.  In Britain this is most often an "escutcheon of pretence" indicating, in the arms of a married couple, that the wife is an heraldic heiress (that is, she inherits a coat of arms because she has no brothers).  In continental Europe an inescutcheon (sometimes called a "heart shield") usually carries the ancestral arms of a monarch or noble whose domains are represented by the quarters of the main shield.<ref>[[w:Heraldry#Marshalling|Heraldry Marshalling]]</ref>
{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
|-
| {{coa|Blackwood|l}} || Arms of [[House Blackwood]]: ''A flock of ravens on scarlet surrouning a dead weirwood upon a black escutcheon''.
|}

===Inheritance and Younger sons=== 
In Westeros arms belong to a family, and any trueborn child may use the family arms. This is similar to the practice in German heraldry, and converse to the practice in British heraldry, where only the head of the family may use the family arms; other members of the family have to difference their arms in some way. In Westeros this is not compulsory, though many choose to adopt their own personal arms, usually a minor variation on the arms of their house. For example:

{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
| {{coa|Targaryen|l}}
| {{coa|Valarr Targaryen|l}}
|The coat of arms of Prince [[Valarr Targaryen]] consists of [[House Targaryen]] with a red border.{{ref|THK}}
|-
| {{coa|Targaryen|l}}
| {{coa|Maekar I Targaryen|l}}
|The coat of arms of Prince [[Maekar I Targaryen|Maekar]] has four three-headed [[dragons]]  on a black field because he is the fourth son of King [[Daeron II Targaryen|Daeron II]].{{ref|THK}}
|-
| {{coa|Tyrell|l}}
| {{coa|Loras Tyrell|l}}
| The arms of Ser [[Loras Tyrell]] has three gold roses on a green field because he is the third son of Lord [[Mace Tyrell]] {{ref|ACOK|22}}. Similarly, his older brother, Ser [[Garlan Tyrell]], features two golden roses on his own personal coat of arms as the second son of the family.{{ref|ASOS|6}} 
|}

===Bastards === 
[[Bastardy|Bastards]] do not have the right to use the arms of their families. Thus, a typical Westeros custom is that a bastard using a sigil (when knighted, for example) adds a distinction. This can be in the form of a color inversion of their family's coat of arms, or possibly with the addition of a red ''bend sinister''.

{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
| {{coa|Targaryen|l}}
| {{coa|Blackfyre|l}}
|colspan="2"| The arms of [[House Blackfyre]], founded by a bastard of [[House Targaryen]], has the colors reversed.{{ref|TSS}}
|-
| {{coa|Frey|l}}
| {{coa|Walder Rivers|l}}
|colspan="2"| The coat of arms of [[Walder Rivers]], bastard son of Lord [[Walder Frey]], has the colors reversed and a red bend sinister.{{ref|AFFC|38}}
|-
| {{coa|Blackfyre|l}}
| {{coa|Bracken|l}}
| {{coa|Aegor Rivers|l}}
| The coat of arms of [[Aegor Rivers|Aegor "Bittersteel" Rivers]], a bastard son of [[Aegon IV Targaryen]], has combined the sigils of [[House Bracken]] (his mother's house) and House Blackfyre.
|}

===Canting===
Martin makes use of canting arms to represent some of the houses in his books. Canting arms are a type of heraldic pun, whereby the blazon of the shield makes a direct reference to the name of the family. Examples include:

<gallery>
File:House Waxley.svg|The candles of [[House Waxley]]
File:House Haigh.svg|The pitchfork of [[House Haigh]] (hay)
File:House Belmore.svg|The bells of [[House Belmore]]
File:House Blackbar.svg|The black bar of [[House Blackbar]].
</gallery>

In other houses the canting refers not to their name of the family, but to their ancestral seat. Examples include:

<gallery>
File:House Martell.svg|The sun and spear of [[House Martell]] for their home [[Sunspear]]
File:House Connington.svg|The griffins of [[House Connington]] of [[Griffin's Roost]]
File:House Frey.svg|The two towers of [[House Frey]] of [[the Twins]] 
</gallery>

==Heraldic homage==
Some of the Houses and their blazons are Martin's tributes to other authors, or other real-world things. For example: 
{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
| {{coa|Banefort|l}}
| The sigil of [[House Banefort]] is a reference to the comic book character [[w:Black Hood|Black Hood]].
|-
| {{coa|Bettley|l}}
| The sigil of [[House Bettley]] is a reference to the comic book character [[w:Blue Beetle|Blue Beetle]].
|-
| {{coa|Costayne|l}}
| The devices of [[House Costayne]] are a reference to author [[w:Thomas B. Costain|Thomas B. Costain]] and two of his novels, ''[[w:The Black Rose (novel)|The Black Rose]]'' and ''[[w:The Silver Chalice|The Silver Chalice]]''.
|-
| {{coa|Jordayne|l}}
| [[House Jordayne]] and its quill device is a tribute to author [[w:Robert Jordan|Robert Jordan]], one of Martin's friends.
|-
| {{coa|Patrek of King's Mountain|l}}
| The arms of Ser [[Patrek of King's Mountain]] are a tribute to the logo of the [[w:Dallas Cowboys|Dallas Cowboys]], an American football team that is the favorite of Martin's friend Patrick St. Denis.
|-
| {{coa|Peake|l}}
| [[House Peake]] can be seen as a tribute to [[w:Mervyn Peake|Mervyn Peake]], the author of the [[w:Gormenghast (series)|''Gormenghast'' series]]. The history of House Peake and its sigil may refer to the three castles that the main character's family owned before it was left with only one.
|-
| {{coa|Rogers|l}}
| The arms of [[House Rogers]] can be seen as a tribute to Martin's friend, [[w:Roger Zelazny|Roger Zelazny]]. The unicorn and maze device on that house's arms may represent of two of Zelazny's works: his short story [[w:Unicorn Variation|"Unicorn Variation"]], whose plot was suggested to Zelazny by Martin, and his [[w:The Chronicles of Amber|''The Chronicles of Amber'' series]]. The Amber series has both a unicorn character and "[[w:The Pattern (The Chronicles of Amber)|The Pattern]]", a labyrinth-like mystical object that orders the multiverse. The nine unicorns are probably a reference to the first book of the series, ''[[w:Nine Princes in Amber|Nine Princes in Amber]]''. Furthermore, the arms of the main character, Prince Corwin, are black and silver, like the colors of the Rogers sigil.
|-
| {{coa|Sarsfield|l}}
| The sigil of [[House Sarsfield]] is a reference to the comic book character [[w:Green Arrow|Green Arrow]].
|-
| {{coa|Tudbury|l}}
| [[House Tudbury]] and its turtle is a homage to one of Martin's own characters, the [[w:Great and Powerful Turtle|Great and Powerful Turtle]] from [[w:Wild Cards|Wild Cards]].
|-
|colspan=2|[[w:Jack Vance|Jack Vance]] is acknowledged in two houses, [[House Vance of Atranta]] and [[House Vance of Wayfarer's Rest]]. The use of dragons in both Vance houses' shields could refer to his [[w:Hugo Award|Hugo Award]]-winning work, [[w:The Dragon Masters|''The Dragon Masters'']].
|-
| {{coa|Vance of Atranta|l}}
| In the Atranta branch, the tower could refer to Vance's [[w:Nebula Award|Nebula Award]]-winning 1966 work [[w:The Last Castle (novella)|''The Last Castle'']]. 
|-
| {{coa|Vance of Wayfarer's Rest|l}}
| In the Wayfarer's Rest branch, the circle enclosing the pair of eyes could symbolize the title of [[w:The Eyes of the Overworld|''The Eyes of the Overworld'']], from the [[w:Dying Earth|''Dying Earth'' series]].
|-
| {{coa|Willum|l}}
| [[House Willum]]'s arms are a tribute to the ''[[w:Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn|Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'' series of Martin's colleague [[w:Tad Williams|Tad Williams]]. Three magical swords are important to the story, and the first book in the series is named ''[[w:The Dragonbone Chair|The Dragonbone Chair]]''.
|-
| {{coa|Wyl|l}}
| The black adder of [[House Wyl]] is a reference to the ''[[w:Blackadder|Blackadder]]'' television series.
|}

==House Words==
{{Main|House words}}

In real world heraldry, there are family mottos that are often shown on a scroll under the shield in a coat of arms (except in Scottish heraldry where they are placed ''above'' the shield). In Westeros, these are called [[house words]], and not displayed on the coat of arms.

==Quotes==
{{Quote|I might mention ... that the rules of heraldry are a good deal more flexible in the [[Seven Kingdoms]] than they became by the [[w:Late Middle Ages|late Middle Ages]] in the real world. There are no "laws" of heraldry per se, no college of heralds for enforcement, no formal regulations about cadency and differencing. So individual [[knight]]s and [[lord]]s have a certain amount of freedom to bear what shields they prefer and play around with their house sigils... or not, as the case may be.<ref name="ssm-heraldry"/>|[[George R. R. Martin]]}}

{{Quote|Well, I have to admit I enjoy the heraldry just for its own sake, although I have played fast and loose with some of the real world heraldic conventions. A lot of bad [[w:Fantasy|Fantasy]] takes place in a sort of [[w:Walt Disney Studios (division)|Disney Middle Ages]], and that had no appeal to me, but I did not want to write thousands of pages about mud and lice and plague either. That would be just as false, in the other direction. The [[w:Middle Ages|real Middle Ages]] had room for both plagues and pageantry, and I wanted both sides in my books as well -- heightened somewhat, since this is Fantasy.<ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/1427 Outland Interview], September 25, 2000</ref>|[[George R. R. Martin]]}}

{{Quote|'''Duncan''': What book is that?<br>
'''Aegon''': A roll of arms, ser.<br>
'''Duncan''': Looking for [[Daemon II Blackfyre|the Fiddler]]? You won't find him. They don't put [[hedge knight]]s in those rolls, just [[lord]]s and champions.{{ref|TMK}}|[[Duncan the Tall]] and [[Aegon V Targaryen|Aegon Targaryen]]}}

{{Quote|You [[Westeros]]i are all the same. You sew some beast upon a scrap of silk, and suddenly you are all [[House Lannister|lions]] or [[House Targaryen|dragons]] or [[House Mallister|eagles]].{{Ref|ADWD|1}}|[[Illyrio Mopatis]] to [[Tyrion Lannister]]}}

==See also==
* [[:Category:Coat of arms images|Showcase of coat of arms]] in use on the wiki and [[Houses of Westeros]]
* [[List of houses]]
* [[List of personal arms]]
* The Citadel [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/Heraldry/ Heraldry] page.
* Wikipedia [[w:Heraldry|Heraldry]]

==Software== <!-- I am not sure if this is the right place to provide this information -->
*[http://www.inkwellideas.com/coat_of_arms/ Coat of Arms Visual Designer] - Java-based
*[http://www.karlwilcox.com/drawshield/create/ Karl Wilcox's Draw a Shield] is a great resource that accepts traditional heraldic descriptions.  It also recognizes a few additional color names.  For instance, it draws a pretty good draft for [[House Spicer]]'s coat of arms when instructed with "paly of 8 vert argent a bend orange, three covered cups sable bendwise in bend".
**[http://karlwilcox.com/parker/ Parker's Heraldry], a dictionary of heraldic terms, hosted by the author of the resource above and fairly well implemented in same
*[http://web.meson.org/blazonserver/ pyBlazon Blazonry Server] - another fine, easy to use resource
*[https://azgaar.github.io/Armoria/ Azgaar's Armoria] - fairly new and full-featured heraldic device generator and editor
*[http://www.sleepingdog.org.uk/flash/heraldry/ HeDGe - Heraldic Device Generator] - a bit limited, but fairly easy to use
*[http://www.puncher.co.uk/gen_herald.php Puncher Heraldry Program] - unfortunately rather buggy and limited
*[http://www.digiserve.com/heraldry/hersoft.htm List of Heraldry software], most links unfortunately obsolete
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Heraldry/Web_resources#Software Wikipedia Heraldry Portal: Software]
*[http://arcana.wikidot.com/coat-of-arms The Arcana Wiki: Coat of Arms]

==References==
{{References|2}}

[[Category:Heraldry| ]]
[[Category:Culture]]

[[fr:Héraldique des Sept Couronnes]]